All posts by hannahviolin

I am a violinist. I also enjoy running, working out, reading, and hanging with my friends and cat.
Running

Rock and Roll St Louis Half Marathon Recap

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What a race! 

This is the race I’d been training for all summer.  Running in the heat, running in the morning, running in the rain.  I really wanted to beat 2:30.

As the race got closer, I felt like my goal was further away.  That I hadn’t trained enough.  That the almost month off I took in August due to injury and sickness had completely derailed me.

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Jen and I got downtown around 6:30 am.  This meant I picked her up at 6:15.  I was worried (really stressed!) about the streets being closed, and they were supposed to close at 6:30 so I wanted to get there early.  It turned out fine, in fact, we ended up with barely enough time to park, find the "rock star" potties, check our gear bags, and then attempt to get to corral 14.

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We didn’t quite make it 14, but decided 13 was good enough.  We were within sight of the 2:20 pace group.

The race got started, and I focused hard on keeping SLOW.  I didn’t want to go under 11:00 minute miles, though I didn’t really want to go over 11:30.  It was a morning of math!  (I have a Garmin 205 watch).  Jen set off slightly ahead of me, and I had the car talk guys in my earphones keeping me company, along with thousands of runners and hundreds of spectators.

Overall the course was fantastic!  I was glad it was a different course than the other downtown races I’d done.  We went by Powell Hall and the Fox Theater, then headed to the Grove neighborhood and passed Sanctuaria.  I knew where we were the entire time, which was good and bad.  There were tons of uphills and downhills—every time there was a downhill I tried to relax and let my pace go a little faster.  As the miles went by I decided that I would continue to shoot for 11 minute miles.  I don’t know if I should have stayed slower at the beginning, but I felt great so I went with it.

I knew that Chris was going to be out at approximately 9 1/2 miles with some other friends.  Once we entered my "hood" and were running (uphill) by the Botanical Gardens, I was both comfortable yet bored and exhausted.  I had trained in the area so much, I knew how boring the next two miles were!!  But the crowd support through there and by Tower Grove Park was fantastic.  I saw Dana and Chip and then finally I was near where I knew Chris would be!

He was on the opposite side of the road than he had said, but I ran towards him.  My friends Kyle, Melissa, and Vanessa were there too.  I kept running!

At one point the marathon course joined back up with us.  No one was running on the marathon side at first, but when the leaders came running through, that was amazing!  Those people lapped us all.

Next was Lafayette Park.  The hills were getting worse, but I knew at this point I would make my goal of 2:30, even if I had to walk almost all of the rest.  I saw a few more friends, and finally we were headed back towards downtown.

I’m not going to lie.  The last mile was awful.  It seemed to be primarily uphill, and I was exhausted. 

I finished in 2:25:49. 

I went through the "secure area", got water, my medal, energy bars, bananas, etc.  I kept looking for Jen as I went to gear check, but finally found her in the family meeting area near the letter "G". 

I am so happy I met my goal!  I kept telling myself while running that I COULD do this.  That I should be able to, and that if I didn’t keep pushing myself I was going to be so upset by the end.  So I did it.

 

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Proud lady!

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Yes, we’re both sitting down.  Of course!

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We watched the finish line for awhile to see if we saw anyone we knew finish—mainly we were looking for Mike, but finally we got tired of that and were just too hungry to wait (also we assumed after a point that we had missed him.  Not sure if we did or not.)  I saw Real Fit Mama across the course at one point! We went to Herbie’s, and I ordered a ton of food and ate it all.

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Chris made this sign for me.  I love it!  I love that he came out to support me.  It was inspiring!

My race photos were terrible.  Oh well!  At least I do look like I was working hard!

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I would run this again next year, but I believe it conflicts with Leslie’s wedding ;)  The year after that, I guess!

Edited to add a few pictures:

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Yup, as you can see above, ran the whole race in these suckers.  Will I do it again next Sunday?  I’m undecided.

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The medal. 

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Pretty steady pace.  Pretty darned good.

Performing

Violining

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I haven’t written much lately about violin, so let’s do that now!

I’ve been quite busy racing and wedding planning, but I’ve also been busier with work. 

I’ve got about 20 students right now, and they are all challenges in different ways.  I currently have students from age 3 up to adults with grandchildren, and they are each wonderful yet difficult to teach in their own way.  Each student has their unique personality and my goal in lessons (in addition to technique first, technique first, technique first) is to bring out their personality and really let them feel like the lesson is something special for them during the week, and hopefully that leads to them feeling that the violin is something special to them in their life.  Does that make sense?  Really that’s my goal—for students to love the violin like I do.

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I do love playing the violin.  Saturday I was doing some recording with the Ocarina Trio and while I was playing it occurred to me that playing the violin is something I do really well!  Running, something I am working hard at.  Violin, something I worked hard at for a long long time (and continue to do so to an extent) but now I do it really well, and generally it is very easy for me. 

Sometimes I don’t feel that I do many things well.  Violin, I feel like I do well.  When I’m not injured…

And a reminder: 

Chamber Project St Louis

Upcoming concerts:  November 3 and 4.  Come check us out!  I’m playing in the Mozart Piano Quartet in the second half.  We’re in the middle of rehearsals now, and I think it’s going to be really good.  It’s a beautiful piece.

Food

Cheesecake

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Quote from my trainer today:  We aren’t dogs.  We don’t need to be rewarded with food.

He asked me what my weight goal was for my wedding.  I told him that honestly I would be happy just not to gain any weight over the next two months.  It occurred to me my real goal is to be stronger and faster, not thinner. 

Granted, I don’t have to eat two breakfasts every day.  Or cheesecake every night.

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Sundays’ brunch at Herbies.  And yes, I ate two of those pancakes as well.  And was still hungry :/

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But I’ve been at this weight for a couple of months now, and I’ve been pretty relaxed with what I’m eating, and I’ve stayed here.  That’s not too bad. I could eat cleaner and I’d lose weight, but do I want to?  (Okay, we actually know the answer, but gosh darnit.)

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We went to Pi last night with Vanessa and Russell, her boyfriend from out of town who I was meeting for the first time!  It was a blast—he was a really great guy.

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After salad and pizza, we went across the street to Herbie’s for a nightcap and dessert.  (While relaying this part of the story to Mike, he asked if I always rewarded myself with food, and then said the thing about dogs.)

To my credit, THIS is the cheesecake I had been craving…well, since the last time I had it.  Maybe a year ago.  Maybe 8 months.  I don’t remember, but I denied myself for a long time.  And now that countdown begins again!

Food, Running

Pen pals, blog friends, and races

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Follow up to earlier post today:  Chris and I talked, and he thinks I should run the other half marathon.  Or, as he said, I should do what I want to do.  (and you know I want to run it, I’m just worried it’s a stupid idea.) So does Rose, from Eat drink and be meiri.  Long story short, I’ll run it, and I will either take it easy, or push even harder for another pr.  It’s like in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, he was able to make the patronus because he had already done it.  I can run 11:20 miles for 13.1 because I’ve already done it.  And I know though it was hard, I could still push myself more.  I can probably run 11:00 miles for 13.1.  Or I can run slower and that’s okay too, because I beat my goal yesterday and two weeks from now can just be fun.

I’ve been more social lately with my blog, and I’ve met all kinds of people.  Clare from Fitting it All in, Maria from Real Fit Mama, Maddie and Jess from City in a Jar.  So I’ve gone further and signed up for all kinds of stuff coming up, to meet new people, improve myself, and give back to the community.

Running Ricig:  Running for Katie Bake Sale:  This Sunday!  I’m making my pumpkin bread.

Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge:  I did this last year and kept the pounds off over the holidays.

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Sweet Tater Blog:  Again, donating my pumpkin bread.

 

Run Eat Repeat

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Pile on the Miles:  I have to run or walk at least 5 miles a week to qualify.  Hmmm…should be able to manage.

On a similar note: 

Today I received my package from Jordan at Food, Sweat, and Beers.  (I sent her some beer and goodies)

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Some beers I’ve never heard of!  SWEET.

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Note: the cat was not included.

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And some other goodies—the cookies are pretty tasty!

Last but not least:  you should make this pumpkin pie fudge recipe right away!

Running, Weddings

Sore legs, sore hips

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I am pretty sore this morning from yesterday’s race.  I suppose it could be worse. but right now I’m sitting on the couch with my feet up rather than walking. 

Honestly I’m not as sore as I’ve been in the past.  I guess the body gets used to that sort of torture…

I’ll write a full recap post of the race in a few days, after I process.  In a nutshell, I feel great about my time and my race.  I met my goal of breaking 2:30, and I almost met my secondary (secret) goal of breaking 2:25.  Knowing how much I would be made at myself if I didn’t make my goal really helped me keep pushing through the pain. 

Another thing that really helped was seeing so many friends along the course!  I knew Chris was going to be at mile 9.5 with some people, and even though that happened really fast it gave me a huge push.  I didn’t appreciate his sign at the time, but he had it displayed when I got home as well.

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He said watching was really stressful, because there were SO many people coming by, and they just seemed like a big blur of people.  He said it was starting to give him a headache!  I knew where HE was going to be, though he was on the opposite side of the road (again, too many people to cross!) so when I saw him I headed towards him. 

Anyway, the thing I’m thinking about this morning is first how glad I am I met my goal and how I’m excited to start running for shorter distances for awhile.  But I also signed up for a half marathon on Nov. 6 for the St Louis Track Club.  I signed up a long time ago when the entry fee was something like $25, figuring that was practically worth it for the shirt alone.  I guess I’ll see how I feel.  I think it would be fun to do another one, just for fun, not to worry about time as much, but I’ve been feeling guilty for all my weekend racing.  I keep having to go to bed early, get up early, and then I’m a mess the rest of the day and I feel bad for Chris.  I’ll decide for sure in a week or so.

This is probably crazy (and I read too many blogs, I think) but I saw there is going to be a New Year’s Day 5k/10k.  I will probably have too much going on to do it…(day before my wedding) but then again, maybe I’ll need to work out to relax!  It’s in the back of my mind as an option, and I’d probably encourage my bridesmaids to run with me (at least Leslie and Sarah, who are runners!)  Our rehearsal is at 4 pm that day—I guess it just depends on how much is left to take care of.  I don’t know how many crazy last minute details there will be or if I can get most everything done before guests start to arrive.  (Never had a wedding before!)

What do you think?  Am I crazy to consider another half in two weeks?  Keep in mind, after that, there definitely won’t be another one until April, maybe March.  So I’ll have a long break.